Is this the “sickest generation” in American history? Not even close.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a press conference on the steps of the Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images If you’ve been paying any attention to the fractious debate over American health policy, you’ve probably heard this phrase: “the sickest generation in American history.” The words can be found in the third sentence of a major report released in May by a presidential commission led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but the line itself essentially sums up the ethos of his